Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 167th Edition

Welcome to the 167th Edition of my blog series. A FEW GOOD MEN opened and it is going very well. We still have performances on Friday and Saturday of next week. This week I have two from the Random Myspace Profile selection and next week I estimate three, one I already know will be there, but that is
always subject to change.

The Grifters (1990): I now pay tribute to the late Donald Westlake who wrote the screenplay to the novel by Jim Thompson. John Cusack stars as a small-time con-man named Roy, whose estranged con-artist mother Lilly, played very well by Anjelica Huston, comes to visit him. Annette Bening is the third con-artist named Myra and is Roy's girlfriend. Lilly and Myra do not get along which makes Roy torn in his loyalty. The lead performances were great and other supporting players did their part. This was so worth the watch and what I thought was the unexpected ending.

Sicko (2007): This is part 12 of the Random Myspace Profile selection and for this one I chose Fred who is a local in Muncie and seems pretty fed up. Controversial filmmaker Michael Moore took a look at the Health industry. Moore is one of those who many don't like but they continue to keep him going. In FARENHEIT 9/11, there were some things I agreed on and things I did not agree on and this one is the same. The health industry can be a very touchy subject. Right now I have not had issues with anything but I just never know. First he took a look at people in the United States who have been screwed by the system. He then took a look at the seemingly flawless health system in Canada, Britain, France and Cuba which promotes free health care. I refuse to believe that it is flawless in those countries. However, I don't think it's right that the number one cause for bankruptcy and and homelessness in the U.S. and that I do believe. If you are looking for a documentary that looks at both sides, you have the absolute wrong person but this needs to make some people think. I guess there will never be a perfect health system and sometimes I wonder if socialism is such a bad thing. However, like communism and fascism which had good intentions, I'm sure it will get corrupted. In the special features, he features Norway and that seems a bit strange to me. If it's true then I want to move there. If you haven't liked Moore in the past, you might like this one more.
The one question I do have in the end is why is our life at such a price?

Diner (1982): Barry Levinson wrote and directed this film which they had trouble releasing due to the then unknown actors. This was a slice-of-life film of a few friends and their troubles. We have Daniel Stern, Steve Guttenberg, Kevin Bacon, Ellen Barkin, Tim Daly, Mickey Rourke, and MAD ABOUT YOU alum Paul Reiser. Levinson did a great job of putting these unknown actors together seeing that they work well
instead of just getting every big name possible. There are many funny scenes like the discussion of a roast beef sandwich and Kevin Bacon was a lot of fun as the drunk. We also have the comical scene with Daniel
Stern explaining the strict rules of his record collection to his wife and his football test that she had to pass to stay with him. Mickey Rourke was a law school student in debt to a lot of bookies. It's so hard to believe it's Mickey Rourke sometimes looking at him now though there is just something about his modern look after he took all those punches in his brief boxing career that I really like. It actually takes place in 1959 so I'm sure many from that era can relate to this movie. These were some unknown actors who would go onto have successful careers.

City Girl (1930): This is a much later film for the legendary director F.W. Murnau. Many see him as a horror director due to NOSFERATU but this is one of many things that shows he was a versatile director. Charles Farrell stars as Lem, a farmboy out trying to sell wheat for his parents. He then meets a waitress named Kate, played by Mary Duncan, and they fall in love as well as get married before Lem returns to the farm. Lem also reduced the selling price of the wheat and when coming home, his father is dismayed by the price he gave and the marriage and makes like pretty difficult for Kate. I really did not know what to expect but this was a nice, unknown silent film. One that went overlooked when Murnau was alive. This is available
on Netflix.

Dumbo (1941): This is my Disney film for the week taking us back to some classic animation where all the needed was a creative mind, some good artists and some old-fashioned paper. There were no computers for animation so they made the most of it and it showed here. The movie starts where the stork brings many animals their babies and many may know that is how babies are made... the stork brings them. The stork took an elephant to its mother and named him Jumbo Jr. but the elephant's friends decided to rename him Dumbo for his really big ears. Dumbo then got made fun of and later separated from his mother because she was trying to protect him and then got imprisoned. Dumbo then meets Timothy Mouse who tries to get Dumbo to feel more positive and gets an act made where I won't give away what happens in the end. There was one really cool dream sequence with the pink elephants or was it an acid trip from Dumbo and Timothy? I guess we'll never know. The character of Dumbo never spoke. James Baskett, most known for playing Uncle Remus in SONG OF THE SOUTH, apparently did a voice for one of the crows but it was never confirmed.

N.Y., N.Y (1957): This was a weird little short film I found on TCM directed by Francis Thompson. This takes a look into the town of New York through the eyes of the camera lens giving a surrealistic look. It
apparently took 20 years to actually make this whole thing but that has not been proven one way or the other. It was worth the 15 minutes to watch this.

Cool Hand Luke (1967): This is a movie my dad got me for Christmas. Stuart Rosenburg directed this prison drama in this character study of the iconic Luke Jackson, one of many iconic characters brought to life by Paul Newman. Luke gets sent to a chain-gang prison after taking off the tops of parking meters where he
refuses to conform. George Kennedy co-stars as the head prisoner who starts off as Luke's rival but then takes a liking to him. What more can be said here? We have the great egg-eating scene, one of the most
iconic lines in history which deals with a failure to communicate, the beautiful woman washing the car and good performances. It also features Dennis Hopper, Jo Van Vleet, Clifton James, Strother Martin, Harry Dean Stanton, and an uncredited role from Joe Don Baker.

Adam's Apples (2005): The facebook friend I chose for this one was Erica who recently got married and got married the same night that Mickey Rourke won the Golden Globe for THE WRESTLER. She is someone I know through Muncie Civic Theater and worked with her in A CHRISTMAS CAROL when we were kids. I am grateful that she featured this selection in her favorites. This movie took place in Denmark where Ulrich Thomsen plays the title character who is a neo-nazi who is sentenced to community service. He serves a priest named Ivan who is very devoted to his faith and Adam does what he can to change his thoughts but finds that it is very hard. Mads Mikkelson plays the priest and it was good seeing him play this kind of role as his others were more villainous including Le Chiffre in CASINO ROYALE. This was pretty well put together where we have Adam wanting Ivan to see the bad in the world and Ivan wanting Adam to see the good. It was quite entertaining and once again a pretty unexpected ending. Anders Thomas Jensen wrote and directed this nice foreign film that can challenge people's thoughts. Available on Netflix.

On an Island With You (1948): I now pay tribute to the late Ricardo Montalban who is most known for the tv series FANTASY ISLAND. Leave it to someone's death to put me in the direction of Esther Williams. Last time it was Van Johnson that introduced me to her and you get more for this one. These were some aquatic musicals and Williams was a professional swimmer before she became and actress and is very easy on the eyes. She plays Rosalind Reynolds who is on an island filming a movie. Montalban plays her boyfriend and Peter Lawford plays a Navy Lieutenant who believes she is the one making for some comical moments.
I'm glad I have been exposed to Esther Williams and plan to see more of her in the future. Nothing great but worth a try to get the boxed set which is available on Netflix. Also look for Cyd Charise who actually
tore the ligaments in her knees during the shooting of the film. Jimmy Durante is the stand-out of the movie.

Coach Carter (2005): I now end with Part 13 of the Random Myspace Profile selection and for
this one I chose wrestler "Scorpion" Chris Reno. I admit, I really didn't know much about this movie going into so I did not know what to expect. I knew it took place in the urban city and that it's about
basketball. I expected some usual formulaic story and while it was to a point, I also saw much more. Samuel L. Jackson stars as the real-life Ken Carter who is hired to coach the basketball team in a small, urban
town and a team that has not done well for years. While he was only hired to coach, he also wanted to make sure his students were doing good in school so he has a contract done with some pretty extreme
stipulations. He soon gets the team winning but learns they are not fulfilling their contracts acedemic-wise and orders a "lockout" on the team until they get everything up much to the dismay mostly of the parents and faculty. His ideas were quite extreme and even I cringed at times but I also understand that he wanted what is best for their lives and wanted them to amount to something. He knew all too well the statistics of people in that neighborhood and the 50% graduation rate. Sometimes Jackson is hit or miss but I feel he really hit the mark here. REAPER alum Rick Gonzales plays his most arrogant player. Ashanti also has a role in the movie. Everyone hit the mark in this MTV production.

Well, that is it for this week. Please leave a comment. Tell me what you like and what you hate and some fun little facts I might miss. I'll be back next week with directors Costas-Gavras, David Fincher, and the legendary Shirley McLaine.

FUN LITTLE FACTS

Anjelica Huston (Grifters) played the role of Calamity Jane in the 1995 tv movie BUFFALO GIRLS and Ellen Barkin (Diner) played the part in the 1995 film WILD BILL. So two people played the role in the same year, if you have opinion on which one was better, be my guest.

John Cusack (Grifters) plays baseball player Buck Weaver who was implicated in the "Black Sox Scandal" in 1919 in the 1988 film EIGHT MEN OUT. Clifton James (Cool Hand Luke) was White Sox owner Charles Comiskey

J.T. Walsh (Grifters) plays Lt. Col. Matthew Andrew Markinson and my Myspace friend Bill plays the role in the current version that we are doing in Greenfield, IN.

J.T. Walsh (Grifters) plays a corrupt sheriff in the 1992 film RED ROCK WEST who hires Dennis Hopper (Cool Hand Luke) to kill his wife.

Xander Berkeley (Grifters) was George Mason in the first couple seasons of 24 and Dennis Hopper (Cool
Hand Luke) was Victor Drazen in a first season stint.

Mickey Rourke (Diner) will play my father in THE RISE AND FALL OF SHAUN BERKEY. Maybe that's stretching a fact, who knows?

Mickey Rourke (Diner) will play the villain Whiplash in the 2010 sequal to IRON MAN and Samuel L. Jackson (Coach Carter) is rumored to play Nick Fury.

James Bond Franchise
-Clifton James (Cool Hand Luke) was in the first two Bond movies of the Roger Moore era as the bumbling Sheriff J.W. Pepper in 1973's LIVE AND LET DIE and 1974's THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN.

-Anthony Zerbe (Cool Hand Luke) was in the second Bond film of the Timothy Dalton era in 1989's LICENSE TO KILL as Milton Krest, a secondary villain who kind of puts of the front for the main villain of Franz Sanchez.

-Joe Don Baker (Cool Hand Luke, uncreditted) was in the first Bond film of the Timothy Dalton era as arms dealer Brad Whitaker, a very war obsessed villain. He would later return in the first two Bond films of
the Pierce Brosnan era as CIA agent Jack Wade, an ally of James Bond in 1995's GOLDENEYE and 1997's TOMORROW NEVER DIES.

-Mads Mikkelson (Adam's Apples) was in the first Bond film of the Daniel Craig era as the villain Le Chiffre.

Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke) played outlaw Billy the Kid in the 1958 film THE LEFT HANDED GUN and Dennis Hopper (Cool Hand Luke) played the role in a 1957 episode of SUGARFOOT.